Events firm Informa to buy Clarion for £2.24 billion from Blackstone

Informa Acquires Clarion for £2.24B, Plans to Separate Taylor & Francis

Informa's Strategic Acquisition and Business Developments

Clarion Acquisition Details

Oct 6 (Reuters) - Britain's Informa said on Tuesday it would buy events organiser Clarion for £2.24 billion ($3 billion) and separate its Taylor & Francis academic publishing arm, as CEO Stephen Carter focuses on expanding the group's fast-growing live events business.

The world's largest exhibitions group proposed raising £940 million in new equity to partly fund the acquisition of UK-based Clarion, which owns more than 100 business-to-business live event brands, including consumer electronics event IFA Berlin. 

Background and Industry Context

US private equity firm Blackstone last year launched a process to sell Clarion, sources told Reuters.    

The deal would be one of Informa's largest acquisitions in recent years. In 2018, Informa acquired conference organiser UBM for £3.8 billion.

It also marks the latest deal-making in the exhibitions industry, which has seen live events roaring back after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the sector.

Recent Investments in the Sector

New York-based Searchlight Capital said in May it would invest in CloserStill Media, in a deal giving it joint control alongside existing investor Providence.

The combined B2B live events business is expected to hold more than 1,000 brands across more than 40 market categories in over 30 countries, Informa said.

Separation of Taylor & Francis Academic Arm

Separation Process and Future Plans

ACADEMIC ARM SEPARATION 

Informa said it had launched a formal separation process to review all options for Taylor & Francis — whose annual revenue is approaching $1 billion and growing at about 4% — and would report the outcome alongside its full-year results in March 2027.

Performance and Market Expansion

Taylor & Francis has been a beneficiary of AI companies using research to train their models. In 2024, its performance was boosted by data access agreements with AI companies, although a lower rate of revenue contribution last year had hurt its underlying performance.  

The business, which accounted for about 17% of Informa's revenue in 2025, has spent recent years expanding beyond traditional academic publishing into open-access research, data and digital research services.

Additional Information

($1 = 0.7571 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)